Difficult for Indians to stay away from their mobile phones

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Arjun Yadav

17 February, 2012

A survey conducted by SecurEnvoy shows that 66 per cent of the people in UK are terrified of being without their mobile phone. The scene in India is also not that different, though there is no official record to support a similar trend.

IN SEPTEMBER 2011, there were around 858.4 million mobile subscribers in India. These numbers are bound to increase in the near future. The youths across the country are so hooked onto getting the best mobile sets in India that every new model launched is lapped up by youngsters who are change their mobile handsets every few months to try different offerings. New applications and features and the ability to stay connected via one's phone has created a near-addition like situation amongst many people. Numerous print and Internet stories have detailed how students, professionals, and housewives are hooked to use their mobile phones for making calls, texting, listening to music, Internet browsing and using the phone as a camera - though there has been no official pan-India survey to put down this trend in hard numbers.

The UK, though, our past colonial masters, seem to be suffering from an advanced case of mobile phone addiction. A recent survey conducted by SecurEnvoy shows that 66 per cent of the people in UK are terrified of being without their phone, reported The Telegraph. In fact, there's a term that has been devised for people who can't do without their mobile phones - Nomophobia. Out of the one thousand people who were surveyed two-thirds said they feared the thought and eventuality of losing their mobile phone. Perhaps due to this reason, 41 per cent of the people polled said they had two phones or more in an effort to stay connected. The survey reported women worrying more than men - 70 per cent of the women surveyed, compared to 61 per cent of the men, yet it was men who said that they were more likely to have two phones - scoring 47 per cent and 36 per cent respectively in the poll.

In India, too, youngsters have become 'attached' to their mobile phones. Kriti Batra, a PR professional keeps in contact with most of her friends through her mobile. Every day, when she gets up, it has become a norm for her to check upon the messages and the calls, even before brushing her teeth or looking at her face in the mirror. Sometimes, when she does not find her mobile, she gets irritated and goes on a frantic search. She fears being without a phone on any given day. She says, “If I do not have a mobile with me, it will be like I am left alone on an isolated land”.

Many people in India, especially in urban areas, cannot imagine a life without their mobile phones. It has become a way of life for them. If we look at the emerging trend in India, young professionals are using two mobile phones. “One for personal use and the other for official use,” says Vivek Kumar, who works in Gurgaon. Mobile companies having realized how young people and professionals are becoming dependent on mobile phones, have introduced dual sim mobile sets to meet such demands, which Vivek has also latched onto. It truly reflects the desperate situation of people to stay connected.

Though there are millions in India for whom a mobile is a thing to be 'addicted to'. Sanjeev Saini, a resident in Delhi said, “For me, mobile phones are simply to interact with people and sometimes text”. It is not a necessity for him unlike many people, who can't even think of going out of their home without the mobile set. Parag Ekka, alumni of St Stephen's put it aptly, “My only form of entertainment is a mobile phone, so if I don’t have it with me, my life comes to a standstill”.